Vietnam has enjoyed tremendous, steady GDP growth in recent years, including during the pandemic-ridden years 2020 and 2021, attracting more and more expats that work primarily in the thriving manufacturing and service industries and allowing an ever-larger chunk of its young, dynamic 97+ million population to afford more and more sophisticated products, indulge in more westernised customs, while retaining a strong sense of traditions, including eating and drinking out. A former French colony and open to sea and land trades, Vietnam indeed displays a lot of charm. The wine market in Vietnam is now more exciting than ever with quality and quantity constantly increasing every year. The Vietnamese appear to have beaten the Japanese and the Indian in the unofficial game of alcohol consumption growth rate, where the rate in Vietnam is twice the runner-up. Vietnamese drinkers knocked down 4.2 billion litres of alcohol in 2019, an increase of 90% over 10 years, making the country the leading market for alcohol in Southeast Asia. Whilst accurate reports are released every two years and at the time of writing data pertaining to 2020 and 2021 are not available yet, it is certain that wine and in general alcohol consumption during the pandemic has increased significantly. Inevitably global products pour into this young, potential market. Pundits see Vietnamese drinkers’ growing taste for wine as evidence of the creeping westernisation of the Country. In 2018, the total import turnover of wine reached USD53.2 million, an increase of 85% compared to 2010. According to the statistics of the Vietnam Alcohol and Beverage Association, there are currently only 15 companies in Vietnam producing and bottling wine with an annual output of about 12-13 million litres. The General Statistics Office announced in its latest available report that the growth rate of imported wine has increased by about 25% per year since 2004. Between 2017 and 2021, the total food and beverage sales are expected to grow at a compound annual average rate of 11.3%. The popular classification of wine in Vietnam is based on the country of origin, with favourites being the “usual suspects”, namely Australia, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. In 2020 Italian wines outpaced the French in sales. In 2019, the growth rate of imports of French and Italian wines to Vietnam was up 20%. Vietnam is being targeted as a massive potential market in Asia by French and Italian wine suppliers, since its annual growth rate remain steadily at 10%. Despite Italy’s top performance mentioned above, generally, over the years, France has always been the top wine supplier to Vietnam. Second in the wine distribution sector in Vietnam have traditionally been Chilean wines. Vietnam has lowered its restrictions on importing wine after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and ASEAN.
Revenues in the wine segment should amount to USD245 million in 2022. The market is expected to grow annually by 4.38% (CAGR 2022-2025).
By 2025, 31% of spending and 24% of volume consumption in the wine segment will be attributable to out-of-home consumption (e.g. in bars and restaurants).
The market for wine segment is expected to show a volume growth of 3.6% in 2023.